Door and operating mechanism therefor.



APPLICATION FILED APR-10.1916.

Patented July 30, 1918.

5 SHEETSSHEE T l.

A. T. PRESCOTT.

DOOR AND OPERATING MECHANISM THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 10. 1916.

5 SHEETSSHEET 2.

A. T. PRESCOTT.

DOOR AND'OPERATING MECHANISM THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. IO, I9I6. I I I Patented July 30, 1918.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

A. T. PRESCOTT.

DOOR AND OPERATING MECHANISM THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 10 1916.

Patented July 30, 1918.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

A. T. PRESCOTT.

DOOR AND OPERATING MECHANI'SMTTHEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR.10.1916.

1 273,923. Patented July 30, 1918'.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5- v gnuewfoz UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

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DOOR AND OPERATING MECHANISM THEREFOR Specification of Letters Patent. Patented July 30, 19 18,

' Application filed April 10, ms. Serial in. 90,046.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR-T. Pnnscorr,

a citizen of the UnitedStates. of America,

and a resident of East Orange, Essex county, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Doors and Operatin Mechanism Therefor, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

My invention relates to doors and has special reference. to large, heavy doors, such as are employed in factories, warehouses, pier sheds and the like. It furthermore, specially pertains to doors havingtwo or more .sectlons hereinafter referred to for convenience as multi-section doors which are opened by first elevating one of the lower sections upon the section above and finally swinging the overlappingsections into/a horizontal or an inclined position abovethe door opening.

One object of my invention is to provide means for holding the top of the door firmly closed against the easement and to facilitate its closing under adverse. conditions.

Another object is to provide a simple and reliable mechanism for positively holding the door closed when once it is shut and dependent upon the upward movement of one of the lower door sections upon the section above, not only for its release, but also for practically freeing the door entirely from its influence so as to remove the possibil ty of retarding the opening of the door particularly when it first starts to swing inwardly at the top.

Other objects of my invention will be set forth hereinafter, andin order that my invention may be thoroughly understood, I will now proceed to describe the same in the following specification and then point out the novel features thereof in appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a door which is arranged and constructed in accordance with and constitutes an embodiment of my invention.

A sectional elevation of the same; door at right angles to Fig. 1 is shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 3 is a view of the mechanism of Fig. 2, the door sections being shown overlapped and the parts drawn to a considerably larger scale than in Fig. 2.

Fig. is a front elevation of the matter shown in Fig. 3 and drawn to the same scale. 1 v p The winding drum which forms a part of the mechanism shown in Figs. 2, 3 and .4 is shown more in'detail and drawn to a still larger scale in Figs. 5 and 6 which are full and partial sectional elevations respectively, show ng the drum near one of its extreme positlons. f

Fig. 7 .is a sectional plan view onthe line 7-7 of Fig. 3. v

Fig. 8 shows a modified drum structure wh1ch may be substituted for that of Figs. 2 to, 6 inclusive. a

Still another modification of my invention which may readily be described as a modi-' ficat on of the mechanism shown in Fi 2 Fig.. 2. The winding drum of bills modification is shown, drawn to a comparatively large scale, in elevation-in Fig. 10 and in plan view in Fig. 11.

Fig. 12 is an end elevation of theme substituted for that of Figs. 10 and 11 is shown in Fig. 15.

Referring to Figs. ,1 to'7 inclusive,30

designates the door posts, 31 the lintel over the doorway, 32 the upper section of the door which is suspended from above the door opening by links 33, and further comprises a lower door section 34 to which hoisting chains 35 are connected and which operate in guideways 36 of the upper section.

Mounted above the dooropening and back of the plane of the casing. against which the door shuts, is a guide sheave 37' mounted on a stationary bracket'38; The upper sectionof the door is provided with an'extension 39 to which is secured a flexible cord or cable 40. This cable extends around the guide sheave 37 and is wrapped upon a drum 41. The drum is mounted on a shaft 42 which, as hereinafter described, isaifixed in bearings 43 of the bracket 44 which is supported m any suitable means and may, for example, be afixed to a beam 45 by bolts 46.

to? is shown in'Fig. 9 which correspon to 3 The latch 47 is pivotally supported between a lug 48 and one arm of the bracket 44. It has a hook projection 49 which is adapted to engage the teeth of a ratchet segment 50 and has a perforated extension 51. The upper end of a releasing rod 52 extends through the perforated extension 51 and nuts or enlargements 53 provide a lost motion connection which may be adjusted as to its position on the rod and as to the amount of lost motion, by setting the nu s in different positions.

The rod 52 at its lower end is pivotally connected at 54 to a release member 55 which has a cam rojection 56 and is slidably secured to a lock 57 located abovethe door opening, by straps 58 and 59. A transverse pin 60 limits the downward movement of the release member 55 and a helical spring 61 which is coiled about the body of the release member and is interposed between the strap 58 and the cam projection 56, tends to hold the member in its down position.

The surface of the cam projection 56 is adapted to be engaged by an actuating arm 62 which is attached to the bottom section 34 near its upper end and comprises an extension 63 pivotally connected at 64 to the body of the arm and pressed against a stop 65 by a spring 66. The arrangement of parts is such that the arm acts as a rigid member when the bottom section is first raised in opening the door but is pushed to one side by the cam projection 56 so as not to interfere with the closing of the door.

The release member 55, when actuated by the arm 62, in opposition to the spring 61, lifts the latch 49 away from the ratchet segment 50, thereby releasing the drum as and for the purpose hereinafter explained.

The details of the drum wi ll best be understood by referring to Figs. 5 and 6. As here shown, the shaft 42 is affixed in any position to which it may be adjusted, by a set screw 67 and has a screw-threaded section 68. The drum 41 has a sleeve 69 which is rotatively mounted on the shaft 42, having a smooth bearing section 70 thereon at one end and an internally threaded bearing portion 71 at the opposite end which cooperates with the screw-threaded section 68 of the shaft. The sleeve hub extends beyond the body of the drum at one end constituting a quill 72 on which a gear 73 is rotatively mounted.

The gear is held in place by a collar 74 and is adapted to be coupled to or released from the drum in a manner which shall now be explained. The gear has a lateral lug or projection 75 while the drum has a latch 76 pivoted at 77 and pressed into the path of travel of the lug 75 by a spring 78 'when released. The latch however, has an arm 79 which extends through the drum and beyond its opposite end into position to engage a lateral projection or lug 80 of the adjacent arm of the bracket 44.

The arrangement of parts is such that the gear is coupled to the drum by the latch and serves to drive the drum in one direction during a predetermined period of operation, until the drum travels longitudinally on the shaft 42 (by reason of the screwthreaded engagement between the nut section 71 and the shaft section 68), sufficiently to bring the end of the arm 79 into engagement with the stationary lug 80. This engagement, as clearly shown in Fig. 6, releases the latch in opposition to the spring 78 and permits the gear to continue its movement without effect. The drum is adapted to be-turned in a reverse direction by the unwinding of the cable, as explained below.

The gear wheel is in mesh with the gear 81 on the head shaft 82 of the hoisting mechanism and consequently whenever the door is raised or lowered by the hoisting v mechanism the shaft 82 and the gear wheel 81 are turned in one direction or the other. This motion is always transmittedto the gear 73 but a'ctu-ates the drum only in one direction as explained in connection with the operation of the mechanism.

The ratchet segment '50 has a hub 83 which is mounted on the shaft 42, and circumferential slots 84 through which bolts 85 extend. These bolts. or studs are secured to the drum and constitute a ready means of adjustably attaching the segment to the drum.

The operation of the mechanism is as follows Assuming that the door is closed, as shown in Fig. 2', the first action of the hoisting mechanism is to raise the lower section 34 until it overlaps the upper section 32. In the meantime the shaft 82 has turned together with the gear 81 and has caused the gear 73 to turn, but this movement is free of the quill 72, no motion being transmitted to the drum 41.

When the lower section is sufiiciently raised the arm 62, as already explained, engages the cam projection 56 of the release member 55, forces it upwardly in opposition to the spring 61 and produces suflicient upward movement of the rod 52 to release the latch 49. from the ratchet segment 50. The drum 41 is thus released and as the door is swung inwardly upon the links 33 in the usual manner, the cable 40 is drawn from the drum over the sheave 37, causin the drum to rotate in such a way as to back the arm 79 of the latch 76 away and free it from the stationary lug 80. The latch is then thrown by the spring 78 into position to engage the lug 75. door occupies its open position, the cable is paid off from the drum and the drum occupies its extreme position to the right in Figs. 5 and 6. v

Finally, when the If, now, the door is to be closed, the hoisting mechanism is actuated in the reverse direction, the head shaft is turned, thereby driving the gears 81 and 73. The gear 7 3 by its pawl 75, drives the drum 41 so as to wind up the cable and forcibly pull the door back toward its closed position. This action continues not only during the first part of the closing action which is readily effected in any event, but also continues to draw the door until the upper section is firmly pulled against the casing and just as this position is reached the arm 79 comes into engagement with the stationary lug releasing the drum from the gear 73. Concurrently with this action the drum so moves that the ratchet segment 50 comes into range of the latch 49 and is engaged by it to firmly lock the door in its closed position:

The timing of the drum in order to accomplish these results and the positioning of the parts, is of course, largely dependent upon the cutting of the threads on the shaft section 68, but may be nicely adjusted by turning the shaft 42 before it is locked by the set screw 67, setting the segment 50 which is adjustable, as already explained, and by longitudinally adjusting the latch 47 by changing the washers 47 which fill the spaces at either end of the latch hub.

After the upper section is locked against the casement, the further actuation of the hoisting mechanism in the same direction causes the lower section to descend, the gear 73 being perfectly free to move, since the latch 76 has been released by the engagement' of the arm 79 with the stationary lug 80.

As clearly indicated in Figs. 4 and 6, the drum 41 is cylindrical in form and its surface is provided with a helical groove 86 to receive the cable 40.

The drum instead of being cylindrical as in Fig. 6, may be frusto-conical as shown in Fig. 8. The drum is designated 41 and is provided with a helical groove 86 corresponding to the groove 86. By making the drum in this form the cableis taken up more rapidly when the doorapproaches its closed position and thus a compensation is obtained for the difference in speed of lineal motion between the top and bottom of the door sections as they are swung from the horizontal to the vertical position. For example, it is evident that the top of the overlapped door sections when the sections move from the closed position where they lie in a vertical plane, to open position where they lie in a substantially horizontal plane, travels first rapidly away from the guidesheave 37 relative to the movement of the bottom of the door and finally moves outward slowly by reason of the fact that the first part of the motion may be compared to a swinging of the door about the bottom end as a pivot and the last part of the movement to a swinging of the door about the upper end as a pivot.

Reference may now be had to Fi 9 to 14 inclusive in which another modi cation of my invention is represented. Fig. 9, as 9.1- 70 ready explained, corresponds closely to Fig. 2 and like parts are designated by thesame reference characters. The cable 40 is attached to a door projection 87, extends over pulley 37 as in the previously described structure and is wound upon a drum 88. This drum corresponds to the drum i1 but is permanently geared to the head shaft 82 by gears 81 and 89 instead of being coupled thereto only in one direction of rotation.

The drum 88, as clearly shown in Fig. 11,- comprises a cylindrical section 90 of relatively large diameter and a cylindrical sec tion 91 of relatively small diameter. Each of the cylindrical sections is provided with a helical groove of the same pitch and there is a spirally curved connecting groove 92 between the small and large diameters as shown in Fig. 12. By this means the cable 40 which is secured to the drum at one end is wrapped first on the large diameter section 90, then on the small diameter section 91. It extends from thence around the pulley 37 to the extension 87 of the upper door section.

The operation of this arrangement is as follows :Assuming that the door is closed as shown in Fig. 9, when the hoisting mechanism is actuated in the usua manner to raise the lower section 34, the turning of the head shaft 82 drives the drum 88. so as to unwind a predetermined amount of slack cable from the small section 91 of the drum. The amount of slack may be comparatively small since the drum section from which the 106 table is drawn, is small in diameter.

When the door sections are overlapped, a further movement of the hoisting mechanism swings the upper end of the door inwardly at the top, this movement being per- 110 fectly free from any retarding forces by reason of the slack cable provided as just explained. Once the door is broken in, the

hoisting mechanism readily swings it to a substantially horizontal or inclined position above the doorway and during this period the cable is paid out from the large section of the drum, the slack being gradually taken up until the cable is in tension when the door is open. In closing the door the hoisting mechanism is operated in the reverse direction and turns the drum so as to gather in the cable 40. The closing of the door is thus assisted by the cable when it first starts to close. The cable is again particularly active when the lower section is moved downwardly since this movement takes up the slack accumulated and puts the cable under relatively high tension just as the door is completely closed. This tension holds the top of the upper section very securely against the casing.

In order to compensate to a greater or less degree for the varying movement of the top of the upper door section as the section is swung from the vertical to the horizontal position, the large diameter section of the drum may be frusto-conical as shown in Fig. 15 instead of being cylindrical as shown in Fig. 11. The frusto-conical section is here designated 90 in contradistinction to the section 90 of the drum of the previous figures.

It is evident that the structures illustrated may be modified in various particulars, and the mechanisms applied to doors of various types-within the spirit and scope of my invention, and I intend that only such limitations be imposed as are indicated in appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. The combination of a door casing comprising side posts and a lintel defining the door-opening, of a door comprising an up per section, a lower section adapted to slide thereon, means for suspending the door to permit it to swing out of a vertical position away from the door-opening, stationary guide means back of the plane of the door, a drum above the door-opening, a cable thereon extending around said guide means, and connected to the upper door section, hoisting means for the door operatively connected to the drum, said drum comprising a section of relatively small diameter upon which the cable-is wound, when the lower door section is being closed.

2. The combination of a door casing com prising side posts and a lintel defining the door-opening, of a door comprising an upper section, a lower section adapted to slide thereon, means for suspending the-door to permit it to swing out of a vertical position above the door-opening, a fixed pulley back of the plane of the door, a hoisting mechanism connected to the lower door section, a drum operatively connected to the hoisting mechanism and provided with a section of relatively small diameter, a cable wound on the drum, extending around the fixed pulley and secured to the upper section of the door near the top, said cable being adapted to be wound upon the small diameter section of the drum when the lower section of the door is closed.

3. A door comprising an upper section, a lower section adapted to slide upon the upper section, means for suspending the door to permit it to swing out of a vertical position away from the door opening, hoisting means connected to the lower section and adapted to first slide the lower section upon the upper section and then swing the upper end of the two sections inwardly, and a drum operatively connected to the hoisting mechanism and having a section of relatively small diameter, a cable wound on the drum and connected to the upper section to produce an inward pull thereon, said cable being wound upon the small diameter drum section while the lower door section is being closed.

4:. The combination of a door casing comprising side posts and a lintel defining the door-opening, of a door comprisin an upper section, a lower section adapte to slide thereon, means for suspending the door to permit it to swing out of a vertical position above the door-opening, a fixed guide pulley back of the plane of the door, a hoisting mechanism connected to the lower door section, a drum operatively connected to the hoisting mechanism and provided with a section of relatively small diameter, and a large diameter section, a cable connected to the upper door-section near the top and extendin over the guide pulley and wound successlvely upon the large and small diameter sections of the drum whereby slack cable is paid out slowly while the lower section slldes upwardly on the upper section and is paid out rapidly during the remainder of the opening of the door.

5. The combination of a door casing comprising side posts and a lintel defining the door-opening, of a door comprisin an upper section, a lower section adapte to slide thereon, means for suspending the door to permit it to swing out of a vertical position above the door-opening, a fixed guide pulley back of the plane of the door, a hoisting, mechanism connected to the lower door section, a drum operatively connected to the hoisting mechanism and provided with a section of relatively small diameter, and a frusto-conical section of relatively large diameter, a cable wound successively on the frusto-conical section and on the section of small diameter and connected to the upper the upper section and then swing the upper end of the two sections inwardly, a drum operatively connected to the hoisting mechanism, and a cable wound on the drum and connected to the upper section near the top whereby the lowering of the lower section'in closing the door puts a tension on the cable and pulls the top of the door against the casing,

7 A door comprising an upper section, a lower section adapted to slide upon the up per section, means for suspending the door to permit it to swing out of a vertical posi-' tion away from the door opening, hoistin means connected to the lower section and adapted to first slide the lower section upon the up er section and then swing the up er end of the two sections inwardly, an' a drum operatively connected to the hoisting mechanism, and having a section ofsmall diameter, and a cable wound on the -drum and connected to the upper section near the top whereby the'lowering of the lower section in closing the door puts a tension on the cable and pulls the top of the door against the casing, and whereby the cable is paid out slowly as the lower section is slidlng upwardly upon the upper section to provide slack to facilitate the breaking in ARTHUR T. PRESCOTT.

Witnesses:

D. E. Dawson, J. B. Hownnn. 

